The Now & The Later
by JustLove201
Summary: "If you really care about her like you say, then you don't want to see her thinking so much about later that she missed now. Do you?"


**This is based off of what Zay said in Girl Meets Bear. It takes place after the ski lodge episode and focuses on Maya, I was gonna have it take place during Girl Meets Bear but then I decided to do the Ski Lodge episode instead. I do not own Girl Meets World. Enjoy!**

"I like you Josh. It's you I like." She meant it. She meant it with every little piece of her heart.

Maya Hart knew right then and there who her heart belonged to and it was not Lucas Friar, it was Joshua Matthews. It had always been him and it would always be him, no matter what.

"I like you too."

Her heart sped up. She felt lighter than air. Josh had just admitted he liker her and Maya could barely contain her excitement. Unfortunately he still wasn't ready, not just yet, but he was willing to play the long game so Maya shook his hand. She was willing to wait.

"Someday." They both agreed.

Maya liked the way her hand fit into his, it felt almost...natural like her smaller hand was made specifically for his larger one. Neither of them had noticed how closer they were getting to each other until their faces were inches apart. Maya desperately wanted to close the distance between them, to feel Josh's lips on her own, but before she could Josh pulled away and she reluctantly pulled back as well.

"The long game." He reminded her.

She nodded, "The long game."

Maya Hart was willing to wait however long it took for the long game to end. She had been waiting for years and she had never given up. Maya was many things she was reckless, artistic, and protective but if there was one thing she was not it was a quitter. She was stubborn and was certainly not going to give up her dream of being with Josh. Maya had been in love with Riley's uncle boing ever since she laid her eyes on him and she was not afraid to admit it...even in front of college kids. She loved him and it didn't matter to her that he was three years older or that he was Riley's uncle. Well it might be a bit weird if she became Riley's aunt but they would figure it out.

As they left the ski lodge Maya turned to look at Evan.

"You want to be a Sherpa, to help people find their way right?"

He nodded, "Yeah."

Maya looked at Riley and Lucas, than at Josh, and than finally back at Evan. She thought about their experience at the Mount Sun Lodge. Maya knew Mr. and Mrs. Matthews had bad memories of this place but she knew that she, Riley, Lucas, and even Josh would have at least one good memory of this place. Riley would remember the Sherpa that she talked to all night, the one who helped her and Lucas get together. Lucas would remember the time he finally admitted that he was in love with Riley. She and Josh would remember their talks and the day they decided to play the long game. Yeah Lucas would also remember when Riley stayed up talking to Evan and Riley would remember how she talked to some boy that wasn't Lucas but among those bad memories there would always be the good memories.

"Don't give up on that dream." Maya smiled a little at him, "You'll be a great Sherpa."

He nodded and smiled back at her, "Thanks."

She joined the others and tried to ignore the way Riley and Lucas were gazing into each others eyes with their hands intertwined and smiles on their faces. Maya sat by them on the bus and watched them talk trying to feel happy for them but it was hard to ignore that growing feeling of jealousy inside of her. Others might think the jealousy was because Lucas chose Riley instead of her but that wasn't it. She glanced over at Farkle who was busy talking to Smackle about science and other nerdy stuff while also holding her hand. The jealousy grew. She wanted what her friends had, wanted to hold somebody else's hand, to stay up all night talking to somebody, and she wanted to be able to do that with Josh.

Maya tore her eyes away from Farkle and Smackle wanting to get rid of the jealousy inside of her. Her gaze wandered over to Zay who wasn't talking to somebody, he looked out of place among all the happy couples on the bus...like she did. She could relate to what he was feeling. Once more her eyes wandered until finally her eyes met Josh's eyes. He smiled at her and she felt a warm feeling spread through her as she smiled back at him. Maya couldn't help but think of the future. _Her_ future...with Josh.

Maya looked away from Josh and back at Zay. She wasn't sure why she did this but something compelled her to get up and sit next to him like she had done at the car wash.

Zay smiled when she sat next to him, "Hey."

"Hey." She smiled back.

They stared at each other for a while not saying a word, all they did was stare and smile. Maya finally looked away turning her gaze towards their other friends. Farkle and Smackle were still talking but it was no longer science related. Riley had gathered the courage to lean against Lucas while he smiled and held her hand. Both couples looked as though they had forgotten about everything and everyone else, all that mattered was being with each other, and Maya's heart ached. Zay glanced at Josh and than back at Maya.

"You two decided to play the long game huh?"

Maya was a little surprised that he already knew about that but she nodded, "Yeah. He lives his life and I live mine. I know he's out there and he knows I'm out there, and maybe one day...it won't matter that he's three years older."

"That's nice." Zay smiled, "So why are you sitting next to me? Not that I mind."

Maya shrugged not taking her eyes off of Zay, "I don't know, I guess I just wanted to talk to somebody."

So that's what they did. They talked to each other. Maya let herself forget all about the future and for once she just focused on the present. She forgot about the others on the bus...including Josh, all she focused on was talking to Zay. It was nice to talk to Zay but she kept feeling as if something was missing, she didn't know what was missing though. When Maya looked down at her hands she saw that they were dangerously close to each other.

Slowly Maya pulled her hand forgetting what she and Zay had been talking about. She ignored the way Zay frowned with a concerned look on his face. Her eyes trailed over to Josh who had been watching them. He had an unreadable expression on his face, Maya wondered how long he had been watching them and why hadn't she noticed before? They stared at each other but after a moment Josh looked away and Maya sighed, _'How long is the long game going to last?'_

Someday it would end. Someday they would be right for each other and three years wouldn't matter anymore. Maya wished she didn't have to wait.

"Are you alright?"

Maya was snapped back into reality by Zay's voice. Reluctantly her eyes left Josh and she turned back to Zay with a smile. It wasn't a happy smile though it was the smile she used when she tried to convince herself that hope wasn't for suckers.

"I will be...someday."

 **That was my first Girl Meets World story. I might make this into a series or a series of one-shots. For right now it's going to remain a one-shot but maybe later if enough people seem to like this I'll do more.**

 **JustLove201**


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